Finance Officer at The British Council

The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We create friendly knowledge and understanding between the people of the UK and other countries. We do this by making a positive contribution to the UK and the countries we work with – changing lives by creating opportunities, building connections and engendering trust.

We work with over 100 countries across the world in the fields of arts and culture, English language, education and civil society. Each year we reach over 20 million people face-to-face and more than 500 million people online, via broadcasts and publications. Founded in 1934, we are a UK charity governed by Royal Charter and a UK public body.

Finance Officer

Pay Band: 6/G
Department: Finance
Job Category: Finance
Duration: Fixed Term (2 years)
Reports to: Finance Manager
Role Type: Advisory, Policy & Expertise

Role Purpose

• The post holder will be responsible for managing and ensuring financial processes are implemented as per the British Council and EU driven policies; providing support to the Finance Manager and assistance to programme teams to specifically support the payment and invoicing processes as required.

The main areas of focus for the role are:

• To provide advice and direct support to other business teams to enable them complete their tasks on time and to ensure value for money impact for activities.


• To manage relationship with bank including management of operational runs to bank when needed, issue policies relating to bank controls like S2B, keeping a clear log of signatories.


• To support the procurement process through monitoring of the vendor creation/amendment procedures and to provide assurance concerning the validity of potential vendors.

Geopolitical/SBU/Function Overview

• The British Council in Nigeria is implementing the European Union Conflict Management in Nigeria programme under their Trust Fund (EUTF) and the Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption programme in Nigeria under their Development Fund programme (EUDF).


• We are implementing the Agents for Citizen-driven Transformation (ACT) Programme under the European Union development fund. In partnership with COFFEY, we are delivering the Policing work under their Conflict Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) and are managing the Programme Coordination Office for DFID’s Deepening Democracy in Nigeria Phase 2 (DDiN2) Programme.


• To support our existing contracts as well as future contracts, we are developing flexible structures that meet the global British Council standards to provide support to our FCR (Justice, Security and Conflict) work in Nigeria.


• The Conflict Management programme in North Eastern Nigeria is a €21m EUTF-funded Programme (2017-2021) and works with the overall aim of enhancing state and community level conflict management capability to prevent the escalation of conflict into violence in a number of locations in North-Eastern Nigeria.


• The Programme has an annual turnover of around £5-£6m and work in 3 states – Adamawa, Borno and Yobe as well as in Abuja. The programme is being delivered alongside a partner (International Alert) with the British Council leading the contract.


• The Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption (RoLAC) programme in Nigeria is a €25m EUDF-funded Programme (2017-2021) and has the overall aim of enhancing good governance in Nigeria by contributing to strengthening of the rule of law, curbing corruption and reducing impunity. The programme has an annual turnover of around £5-£6m and work in 4 states – Adamawa, Anambra, Kano, Lagos, as well as in Abuja. The RoLAC programme will be extending to Edo State.


• The Agents for Citizen-driven Transformation (ACT) programme is an EU funded programme being implemented by the British Council. The programme is funded under the 11th European Development Fund (EDF) and will be implemented over a period of five years from July 2018, with the first 6 months serving as the programme Inception Phase for the development of strategies for full programme implementation.


• The ACT programme will contribute to the progressive achievement of several of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as well as to the national development priorities identified in the Nigeria Vision 20:20 Economic Transformation Blueprint.


• The Overall Objective of the programme is to contribute to more inclusive, effective, accountable and gender-responsive development in Nigeria; while its specific objectives is to enhance the credibility and role of CSOs as drivers of change for sustainable development in Nigeria.


• The programme has an annual turnover of around £3-£4m and will be implemented at the Federal level and in selected states where EU programmes concentrate.


• The Nigerian context is generally challenging, having poor infrastructure and currently facing a volatile security situation. There is still a significant reliance on the cash economy, corruption is high and the regulatory and compliance structures that exist are highly ineffective.


• The overall economic situation is not good with the low oil prices leading to high unemployment, increasing inflation and a shortage of foreign currency causing the value of the Naira to weaken considerably. This makes Nigeria a very challenging environment in which to deliver programmes. The Programme Support Office is located in Abuja, but in an office that is separate from the main British Council office


• The post holder must therefore have the ability to work in an ambiguous and difficult environment in which British Council processes need to be adapted or developed to cope with unusual requirements and difficult context.


• The post holder will work closely with the programme delivery and management teams as well as having significant interactions with the technical teams and Nigerian partners.
  
  

Accountabilities, Responsibilities and Main Duties
Project delivery:

• To undertake timely processing of invoices to designated workshops, meetings and events according to stated requirements.


• Clearly communicate payment processing requirements and any changes to users and the responsible operations manager.


• Processing payments and reconciling records according to agreed time standards for same.


• To render advisory assistance to officers and/or consultants involved in programme delivery activities in terms of requirements.

Payment processes:

• To undertake the preparation and/or processing of all offline payment vouchers and cheques.


• Maintenance of Abuja office cash imprest and support in parking and posting of Petty cash transactions on to SAP.


• Audit travel, procurement and workshop expenses as may be directed by the Finance Manager, keeping and recording items in Finance Safe.


• Printing, filing, scanning and updating of finance related documents.


• Supporting all payment and processing functions of the finance team.


• Working closely with the Finance Manager and the Country Finance Team to ensure that due process is followed and that Nigeria’s finances are managed in line with corporate and client requirements

Leadership and Management:

• Work closely with and provide advice and training on finance for non-finance staff.


• Overseeing the activities of State Office Admin and Resource Assistants in management of Petty cash transactions and support in parking and posting of these transactions on SAP.


• Provides coaching and mentoring for staff in the project teams, as agreed to build capability and capacity within the team and ensure the team receives the support it requires.


• Team support and Contribution:


• To assist in taking on responsibilities to support the Programme Finance team where necessary and practical.

Continuous Professional Development:

• To ensure personal development on IT skills for wider adminstrative assistance.

Key Relationships

• Internal:National Programme Managers; Operational Managers, Output/Component Managers, HR Manager, Finance Manager, Country Finance Team, GSD, Programme Officers, Admin and Resource Assistants and other Project Teams,


• External: External relationship management where appropriate (i.e. linked to function of role), to include: EU, DFID, consultants, external partner organisations, MDAs, Banks etc 
  
  

Role Requirements
Threshold requirements:

• Passport requirements/ Right to work in country – All applicants should have a pre-existing legal status to live and work in Nigeria. British Council will not facilitate / sponsor visa applications and work permits.

Assessment stage: Shortlisting

• Direct contact or managing staff working with children? – Appropriate child protection assurance checks in accordance with British Council policy


• NB: Travel or occasional unsocial hours may be expected where the need arises

Person Specification
Qualifications:

Essential:

Desirable:

• Fully or part qualified on any Accounting qualification such as ACA, ACCA and CIMA.

Assessment stage: Shortlisting

Role Specific Knowledge & Experience 
Essential:

• Minimum of 2 years’ experience in a Full Cost Recovery programme finance environment.


• High levels of personal effectiveness and the ability to focus on achieving deadlines.


• Experience working with SAP.

Desirable:

• Experience of operating in a complex, multi-cultural context.


• Computer skills – A good knowledge of Microsoft Office suite.

Assessment Stage: Shortlisting

British Council Core Skills

• Managing Finance and  Resources (Level 2) – Uses financial systems and processes – Uses corporate financial systems and processes appropriately as part of the job and on behalf of a team.


• Managing Accounts and Partnership (Level 2) – Works with stakeholders and partners – Communicates regularly with diverse stakeholders, customers and/or partners to build mutual understanding and trust


• Managing Risk (Level 2) – Supports a risk management culture – Has track record of identifying and highlighting risks and suggesting mitigating actions.


• Planning and Organising ( Level 2) – Plans ahead – Organises own work over weeks and months, or plans ahead for others, taking account of priorities and the impact on other people.

Assessment Stage: Shortlisting and Interview

British Council Behaviours

• Being accountable (More demanding) – Putting the needs of the team or British Council ahead of my own


• Making it happen (More demanding) – Challenging myself and others to deliver and measure better results


• Working together (More demanding) – Ensuring that others benefit as well as me


• Connecting with others (More demanding) – Actively appreciating the needs and concerns of myself and others


• Shaping the future (Essential) – Looking for ways in which we can do things better


• Creating a shared purpose (Essential) – Communicating an engaging picture of how we can work together

Assessment Stage: Interview and Performance Management

Remuneration
NGN8,106,740.00 per annum

Method of Application

Click here to download Job Details (Pdf)

Click here to download BC Behaviour (pdf)

Click here to download BC Core Skills (pdf)

Interested and qualified? Go to British Council career website on jobs.britishcouncil.org to apply

source: http://jobcenternigeria.com/finance-officer-at-the-british-council-2/